Luis Rojas may not be able to afford too many more bad days at the office like the one he endured on Monday if he wishes to keep his job as manager of the New York Mets this season.
After all the offseason hope and hype that was served up thanks to an ambitious and incredibly wealthy owner in Steve Cohen, a blockbuster trade for one of the premier players in MLB in Francisco Lindor and a retooled roster that focused heavily on depth, Mets fans were brought back to reality on Monday, watching their team lose a tough one 5-3 to the Philadelphia Phillies.
Perhaps this one felt worse given that we had to wait longer to see the Mets take the field in 2021 after the opening series was postponed due to COVID-19 concerns with the Washington Nationals. Or because we have become so accustomed to this team winning on Opening Day given that they entered last night’s contest having won a stellar 39 of their previous 51 opening games of the season.
Or maybe it was because this loss was laced with frustration created by a series of puzzling and questionable decisions from manager Luis Rojas, who is getting blamed for ruining an absolutely electric outing from ace Jacob deGrom.
The two-time Cy Young award winner was just money on the night, tossing six shutout innings, striking out seven, and allowing just three hits, while throwing eleven pitches over 100 MPH.
While this was just one game in a full 162-game regular season, this is a very different New York Mets team this year. Studying the history of new owner Steve Cohen suggests that Luis Rojas may not last too long under this regime if some of the decisions we saw on Monday night become a regular bad habit.
Now let me preface this by stating it has only been one game, and given that I made fun of Yankees fans overreacting after they lost on Opening Day, it would be very hypocritical of me to do the same in this space.
It is also worth pointing out that Rojas was not responsible for everything that went down last night. For instance, he can’t be blamed for Trevor May and Aaron Loup not doing their jobs and failing to get it done after deGrom handed them the game on a silver platter.
Nor can Rojas be faulted for the fact that his loaded offense could only put three runs on the board. You also can’t blame him for Luis Guillorme failing to execute a clean throw to catcher James McCann, which led to two unearned runs being scored in the five run eighth inning.
After all, it is on the players to go out and perform and ultimately do their jobs, and so many didn’t on Monday night in Philadelphia.
However, you can have some issue with Rojas opting to pull deGrom from the game after just six innings and 77 pitches. It took the Mets just two full innings before they imploded and completely undid the sterling work and effort put in by their ace, who was so good and so in the zone that he also collected two hits and an RBI at the plate.
You can argue that the decision wasn’t made without deGrom’s consent, who will pitch again on Saturday against the Miami Marlins. Maybe analytics also had something to do with it given that teams are determined to treat their pitching staff with kid gloves this year due to the sharp increase in innings.
However, Rojas has been around baseball long enough to know that you don’t take a pitcher out of the game when he is dealing as deGrom was last night. You just don’t do it, end of the story.
You can give me all the numbers you want, gut-feel, instinct, and the eye test should still play a role in modern day baseball. DeGrom should’ve been kept in the game for at least another inning, especially considering the reasonable doubts over this Mets bullpen heading into the season.
The other major head scratcher committed by Rojas came before the first pitch. The team decided to bench Dominic Smith, despite the fact that he has developed into one of the best and most feared hitters in this Mets lineup.
Starting outfielder Kevin Pillar over Smith was confusing especially given the decision was made because Rojas liked the idea of a righty going up against Phillies left-hander Matt Moore. Over his career against Moore, Pillar is just 1-for-11, while Smith posted a .900 OPS against southpaws in 2020.
To compound matters, after Moore was pulled for a righty with the bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Pillar was left in the game to hit for himself. He ultimately grounded into an inning-ending double play, spoiling the Mets’ threat, and leaving the clutch-hitting Smith to rust away on the bench.
All of the above leads us to the fact that Rojas does have to take some blame and responsibility for last night’s failings. There is no doubt his new boss was watching how things unfolded very, very closely.
After all, just hours before first pitch in a press conference to mark the start of the new season, Cohen made it clear that the Mets will now “act like a major-market club,” and stated his belief that this team will be in the playoffs this year.
With that in mind, coupled with his desire for the Mets to become a major destination for free agent stars, it is very unlikely Cohen will allow things to slide or escalate too much this season. It wouldn’t surprise me if he were to make a change in the dugout if things were not going the way he desires.
Ever watched Billions? It is no secret that the main character in that show is based roughly on Cohen’s life. It is also no secret that he is a ruthless businessman who does whatever it takes to win, hence why he is incredibly loaded and now the richest owner in all of baseball.
I don’t think there’s any chance that Cohen softens his approach with the Mets. It could even be that he develops an even more ruthless side given how much he cares about his franchise and wants this team to win.
You also have to remember that Cohen inherited Rojas, as did president Sandy Alderson. As Alderson revealed during Monday afternoon’s press conference, the team did not pick up Rojas’ option for the 2022 season.
That should tell you the jury is very much out on the second-year skipper, and Cohen could quickly look to bring in his own manager if things don’t go according to plan out of the gate.
While it is still just one game into a 162-game regular season, and most of the team didn’t get the job done last night, it is fair to suggest that Luis Rojas will be on a very short leash in 2021.
